Dr. Corson

Kahn's massive body towered over the Salarian doctor. The behemoth was so big, when the doctor looked up as he laid on the ground, he could barely see any of the lights on the ceiling. Kahn's face could not even be made out due to the lack of light on it. As if the Anahaus towering over him wasn't enough, the doctor could feel the slobber that was dripping out of the mouth of the beast. Warm breath that smelled like flesh of possibly another doctor hit his nose and caused him the cringe. If that wasn't enough, the sharp weapon at his side brought fear into the Salarian. A warm liquid had formed underneath him while he laid on the ground; he had peed himself. Embarrassed and afraid for his life, two things he had not foreseen when he woke up this morning.

Dr. Corson was one of the many Salarian doctors that were kidnapped by the Anahaus to help them pursue the art of cloning. Corson remembered the day that he was kidnapped. His wife and children were literally torn from him, there limbs and flesh strewn about in his apartment on Omega. He begged them not to harm his family but the Anahaus were to animalistic. They had a one track mind, which was both a blessing and curse to the species. During a battle they did whatever they could to achieve their objective, but this was not a battle and his family were not soldiers. The look on the face of his wife still haunted him to this day.

"Dr. Corson do you remember why it is we hand picked you for this project?" Kahn said in a very intimidating voice. Of course he remembered; it was to perfect cloning and teach the Anahaus how to manipulate their genes and create super soldiers, as if they weren't already a strong species already.

"Y-y-yes of course I do," he said in a high pitched tone. Be strong damn it! He told himself. Be strong for the rest of the doctors. Corson struggled to his feet and looked up at Kahn. The Anahaus was a good foot and a half taller then him and easily ten times as strong. Kahn took a step forward, feeling that the doctor was almost challenging his authority by standing. Kahn reared back and took a swipe at the doctor's face. His massive paw slashed at his face. Kahn could feel the flesh rip off of the doctor as he knocked him back down.

Corson quickly put both hands to his face and then removed them and looked at the blood. Kahn had left three cuts across his face, but more important to Corson he had hurt his pride. One of Kahn's big feet came crashing down on the chest of Corson, crushing one of his ribs. Screams of agony and pain burst out of the doctor as Kahn pressed his foot down harder. What had he done to deserve this treatment? Everyday he woke up earlier than most of the doctors and worked harder than most of the doctors. Everything the Anahaus had asked of he had done, or at least given 110% at trying.

"You were brought here to help further the Anahaus race!" Kahn said in anger. He removed his foot from the doctor, reached down and grabbed his shirt, and lifted him into the air for everyone to look at. "You were chosen because you are one of the best doctors in the galaxy. We recruited you to help us with cloning and embryo manipulation. But the biggest thing we asked of you was to create an army of super soldiers. An army of Anahaus, like me, that were bred only for destruction."

"Yes…ugh…I know. The Annihilators!" the doctor cried out. Pain shot through his chest and face. Kahn was a perfect example of how far gene therapy and gene manipulation had come. Corson created him a little less than three years ago. It was Corson's crowning achievement, of his time as a prisoner at least. One of the other doctors had been killed days before the creating of Kahn was set into motion and Corson requested that the Salarian's brain be kept in decent condition. Although he did not have the means to start up the brain, he was able to take tissue samples and enzymes from the brain and mix it with the Anahaus embryo, thus creating a super Anahaus solder. The leader of the Anahaus had fears over Kahn though, fears that were only expressed to Corson and never to Kahn.

"He is too smart for his own good," Geng had said to him. "You did what exactly was asked of you doctor, but he is too smart. I will withhold my anger from you this one time, but do not let this happen again. I cannot have an Annihilator be able to think for himself. That could be devastating to our plans."

Corson was also afraid of Kahn's brain power as well. He had used too much of the Salarian doctor's brain when he was making him, something that he made sure to never do again. In fact, Geng wanted the Annihilators to be nothing but brainless psychopaths whose one joy was killing those weaker than it. One track mind. But Kahn was able to think for himself. Brains and might, a deadly combination to say the least. And not the doctor was having to regret his decision to try and impress the hierarchy.

"Then where are they! Where is my army!" Kahn roared. He pulled the doctor in and stared at him. His eyes pierced right into Corson, and Corson was afraid that he may have peed himself once more, but he couldn't be sure. Not at least while hanging in the air.

"We are running behind schedule yes, but believe me you will get them. You will have the army of Anahaus that has been requested!" His voice still cracked as he tried to explain the situation to Kahn. "The embryos for Annihilators take more time to grow, even with the enhanced growing hormones. It will take some time!" Kahn dropped the doctor and paced back and forth across the floor. "We should have the first batch of soldiers ready in about a week. Only ten have been able to survive all of the modifications to them."

"Ten? You were only able to keep alive ten of them?" Kahn turned back to him, anger and rage boiling up inside of him. Corson wanted desperately to look away but he stood his ground and got back up to his feet.

"This was the first group of subjects that we really felt comfortable with. Every other test group would have had birth defects." Corson began. "Genetic manipulation is a very rigorous and tedious ordeal. We have to make sure that every strand of DNA is just perfect before we can begin to grow the embryo. From there was must carefully monitor…" Kahn growled in anger and charged at the doctor. He grabbed Corson and pinned him up against a wall and put his gun in the doctor's face.

"Listen Salarian, I do not give a damn about the technical jargon," Kahn said. "All Geng and I care about is having our army created and ready for combat. Now, I don't care what it takes, I don't care what you have to do, but give us what it is we want. Give us our army!" Kahn pressed his thick furry forearm against the doctor's neck and began to choke him. Corson's eyes got bigger and his breathing rough as the Anahaus pushed harder. Kahn quickly stepped back and the doctor fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. Some of the other doctors tried to comer over to help him up but he swatted them away. He was too damn stubborn to have accepted someone's help.

Dr. Corson got to his feet and wiped some of the blood that had dripped from the scratches on his face. He looked up at Kahn who stood and stared at him, menacingly. The two stared at each other for a moment but to Corson it felt like a lifetime. He regretted many of the modifications and changes that he did to the embryo that created Kahn. But now was not the time to sit and regret his life's choices, it was a time to try and preserve his life.

"One week you say," Kahn said, beginning to calm down a little bit. He began to rub the bottom of mouth with his massive paw and glared at the doctors. "Will they be battle ready once they are born? Or will we have to wait longer for that?"

"No more waiting will be required sir," another doctor piped up. "One of the modifications we have done was to equip them all with a wealth of knowledge concerning battles and wars. They will be full grown fighting machines, just as you and Geng had requested."

"It is good to know that one of you knows where your loyalties are," Kahn said. "You will receive extra rations in your meal tonight. Now get back to work! I want the army that we have been promised, and it needs to be when on schedule!" He turned and motioned for the other Anahaus that came with him to leave the room. For a few moments the laboratory was quiet and no one really took much notice of Dr. Corson, or at least made it look that way. There were cameras that kept a constant watch over the doctors and if they made any effort to help Corson there would be swift and terrible retribution.

Corson smiled and walked over to one of the computer terminals in the back of the room. When he was being thrown around by Kahn he noticed that one of the computer terminals was not picked up by one of the cameras in the room. The Anahaus were not big on computer hardware and the use of an AI, so transmitting a message out and it not being caught would be fairly easy for someone as smart as Corson. Just to be safe he was going to make sure that the message had some sort of encryption surrounding it. It would be traceable back here to the Genetic Facility though, and that was his plan. He wanted off of this world, and so did the rest of the doctors. They had spent the last five years in bondage, working an insane amount of hours for no pay and little food. Every Salarian in this place had lost their families to the Anahaus. While most of the doctors hoped that one day they would be able to leave wherever it is they were, the rest seemed almost content on being a slave. Being a slave to the Anahaus, though they were degraded daily and treated worse then the lowest life forms in the galaxy, offered up some form of protection for them.

Dr. Corson got to the terminal and accessed his personal files. One of the few small 'benefits' of being here was having been there when the computers and messaging systems were created. He knew the ends and outs of the system and could easily manipulate it in any he saw fit. There were certain protocols, firewalls, and checkpoints that were intentionally left out just in case the Salarians could find a way to escape. None of the Anahaus knew about this. If they did find out, those who were involved with the creation of the software would surely be found out and killed.

He wanted to send out some sort of distress message, but who would he send it to? He had no family and surely all of his friends would have assumed him dead after these past couple of years. He had no real colleagues because he had a tendency to leave them behind in his research. Not that he intentionally did it, he was just that smart and worked that fast. There was one funny man that he remembered meeting many years ago. It was another Salarian named Dr. Mordin Solus. He was the fast talking doctor who had helped try and cure the plague on Omega. Mordin was the type of individual who thought faster than he could speak and tended to go off on many rabbit trails when his mind was stuck on trying to figure something out. Corson blamed it on the possibility of Mordin's mother being a heavy drinker, but of course that was just a theory.

How would he contact the doctor though? The only sensible solution would be to send the message off to the clinic on Omega and see what happened from there. But what all to send? After all, Mordin was a doctor and not a soldier. There would not be much that he could do by himself. Maybe he would have contacts somewhere in the galaxy, people that he knew that were soldiers an could liberate Corson and the other doctors. The odds were firmly stacked against him but he had to try something. This was not the place Dr. Corson intending living out the rest of his life.

With great speed and precision, Corson typed out a message that was not too wordy, but had enough details on the situation. He felt that he needed to explain why it was the Anahaus had them and that he wasn't quite sure where he was at. Quite possibly Mordin would be able to trace where the signal came from and be able to locate him. His eyes left the screen a few times to make sure that none of his oppressors were watching him. Sweat rolled down his rough face and landed on the concrete floor he was standing on.

"Done," he thought. There was no time to proofread and make sure that his sentence structuring was right or if he made a punctuation error, so he sent it and breathed a sigh of relief. He cursed himself for noticing the cameras earlier, but he found comfort in knowing that he was able to get a message sent away. Using his forearm, he wiped the sweat away from his brow and went back to working on the embryos in front of them. It took everything he had inside of him to not give them some horrendous mutations or just destroy the embryos altogether. It was not worth dying, but he also did not want to continue creating an army that could possibly take over the galaxy.

His contributions had slowed down over the last year or so, but since the Anahaus delegated a good amount of duties to the Salarians, there was no need to keep a good record of how much he personally did. The only downside to it was there was no way of getting a good headcount on the amount of Anahaus that they already had begun growing and how many did not make it. All that was for sure was they had Kahn and ten other true Annihilators made, and those were the ones that would be finished within the week. After that, at least 100 more were on the way and would be fully mature in a month or two. Steady development rates meant that within a year the Anahaus could be innumerable. There had been talks about how they would catalogue how many they had made but so far they had yet to come up with a good idea. For now the good doctor could only wait and hope. Hope that maybe one day he could get away from here and back to some form of civil life.

Deliberations

Kahn stomped away from the laboratory and past a few of the holding cells that were used for the Salarians. All but a few were empty and would be filled up once more when their day of working was over. The Anahaus had a 'more work/less sleep' mentality. That was the best way to see results. The best way to get things accomplished that had been dreamt about for years. All that the Anahaus had worked hard for over the years was about to become known to the rest of the galaxy and it all depended on the Salarians. An awkward position to say the least. The Anahaus did not like working with any other race in the galaxy, in fact they damn near hated every other being in the galaxy. A hatred that stemmed from being virtually ignored and looked down upon for a lack of brain power. But what they lacked in brains, they made up for in brawn. Of course, how stupid could a race be that has damn near perfected cloning.

He and Geng had discussed for long hours just how exactly this plan of theirs would work out. An army would be bred and they would finally get the chance to reveal their full strength to the rest of the galaxy. For years the Anahaus were thought to be a weakened species with their lack of technology but of course with their recent breakthroughs they had learned how to bend the realm of nature and create superior creatures. They created virtually the perfect beings in a short amount of time. And with the help of the captured Salarians, they have been able to progress farther than they could have ever imagined.

Of course not all of what they did was with the help of the Salarians, in fact the Anahaus made their own training regiments that were used to develop all members of their army. They pushed themselves to the brink of oblivion and beyond, and for that they became ruthless and blood thirsty creatures. Beatings were given daily as a way of toughening up the young Anahaus, and they were constantly reminded of how they had been treated and oppressed by other creatures in the galaxy. Making their young and juvenile Anahaus angry was key to successfully turning them into relentless animals. Kahn thought about how he was treated when he was being 'initiated' into the lifestyle that he now knows to be normal. How many times had he been left broken and bloody in the middle of a floor, howling up for someone to stop beating him? It did not matter now, because he was the perfect specimen.

Everyone looked up to him to lead and guide his people. There had even been murmurs of him rising up and destroying Geng one day, but that was something that Kahn could not do. Geng was like family, what little idea he had of family. He had been the one who personally trained Kahn and made him into what he was. Geng was his mentor almost a father figure to him, whatever that meant. Being such an influence to him, was the main reason that Kahn referred to Geng as his uncle.

Kahn walked further down the long hallway and was greeted by every soldier and guard their with a low grunt. He practically ignored them all as he walked by. He walked through another door and into one of the many intricate tunnels that made up the research facility. The Salarians believed this base to be on the Anahaus home world, Vert. But the truth was it was on a different planet in an entirely different system. Different worlds had to be captured to keep up with the exponential growth of the Anahaus race, and this was one of the planets they found. Batarians called it Calypso, and the name stuck. Calypso was the only planet that Kahn had lived on, and he had never been to the home world of Vert. From what he heard the elders talking about, Vert had been turned into an overcrowded metropolis. More and more cloning facilities like the one he was in now had been popping up everywhere and the waste from each was just tossed out the window. They were obviously too focused on the task at hand to at least clean up their mess. Geng had made sure that Calypso had good waste management, and the waste was dealt with every three days.

The tunnel Kahn was in had giant glass windows all around it so one could see outside. Calypso was full of mountains and peaks, and the cloning facility was built into one particular set of mountains. On the outside it looked like a normal mountain range, but one peak of the mountain range along contained hundreds of rooms that were used for man different purposes. Many of them were the research labs and birthing rooms, others were the armories and all purpose rooms that were used for a variety of things. The tunnels were used to connect the peaks with each other, and could be retracted into the mountains if the Anahaus thought they may be in any kind of danger.

Kahn exited the tunnel and ended up in another part of the mountain range, this one was specifically built for the hierarchy of his people. Not much time had been invested into it, but the Anahaus did not care or dwell on such miniscule things as this. They would rather focus their time and energy furthering their race.

Only a few rooms and small out coves were constructed into this mountain and Kahn knew exactly where he had been ordered to, Geng's war room. His mentor and uncle was not on Calypso and would be addressing Kahn and the members of his war council from Vert. Kahn was to give an update on the progress of the first group Annihilators and anything else that Dr. Corson had told him. The other elders were here to continually check up on Kahn and make sure he was able to handle an entire operation on his own. None of the elders trusted him and his abilities, except for Geng, and Kahn was always eager to prove himself and make them look foolish.

He entered the room and their stood the other 5 members of the war council; Odsa, Darv, Boug, Vak, and Midor. Their jet black fur had began to show signs of their bodies aging and silver hairs were peaking out, predominately on their snouts. Each of them had a gun strapped to their hips and a large curved blade attached to the gauntlet on their right wrist. They all wore orange armor to signify their position in the Anahaus army as Grand Generals, one step below Geng, and one step above Kahn. Although he disliked all five of them, he respected who they were and they stood for in terms of the Anahaus race.

"Greetings elders," he said, placing his fist across his chest and lowering his head. This type of greeting was only done when in the presence of the war council members. Kahn had seen one of his close allies killed because he greeted on non-council member the way he would have one of the five elders. It was disrespect to greet anyone else like so, because the council members worked and fought their whole lives to be where they were.

They returned the greeting with a pompous smile and a grunt and shifted to face him. One of them spoke, it was Odsa, "We trust that you have good news for us young Kahn?"

"Yes I do general," Kahn said, cringing a little inside. He hated being referred to as 'young', even though he was. It was almost a sign of disrespect and a way of saying that he had not yet accomplished anything with his life. "Once Geng joins us then I will be glad to share with you the Salarian doctor gave me."

"How about we save you the trouble and you tell us what he said. We will gladly relay the information to him for you," Odsa replied. Kahn knew that it was a set up by the jealous generals. They wanted to try and make it look as if he was not doing his job.

"My orders General Odsa, were to deliver Geng with the information personally," Kahn said, sounding a little defensive. "I will see to it that I finish what was assigned to me."

"You were told to…" Odsa began, but was cut off by Kahn.

"I was told to bring information to Geng and you five were going to be here to listen to my report," he barked back. "I will see to it that I complete what was asked of me. If that bothers you Odsa then take it up with Geng." Kahn knew that Odsa was hard on the outside, but weak on the inside. He was afraid of Geng and the power that came with his position. Kahn would use that to his advantage when he was arguing with the elder.

"Learn your place whelp," said Odsa, as he turned back to where the projected image of Geng would show up. He was embarrassed and pissed off that he had let Kahn get to him once more. He was too smart for his own good.

A moment later and the lights in the war room darkened and only the red from the projector was all that was shining. All of the Anahaus bowed down to one knee and hung their heads in anticipation of Geng appearing before them all. It could be a long while before he showed up, or it could only be a few seconds. When the lights dimmed it meant that Geng had began to start transmitting.

After a few moments of kneeling and their massive legs beginning to cramp, Geng appeared before them all. He wore dark blue armor and 'walked' into the room with a confidence that all creatures in the galaxy envied. He owned whatever room he walked into and everyone gave him the respect that was due to him. For an Anahaus to be the leader of their military it took a courage and strength that not al Anahaus had. The leader had to kill the established military leader in combat, and failure to do so was considered to be treason and they were put to death. Only once had Geng been challenged, and the challenger was killed. Not since then had someone tried to take his position.

"Rise," he said to them. Even though it was a projected image of him, his presence could still be felt. He had a deep and booming voice that made the insides of anyone who listened to him do somersaults. Geng struck fear into the hearts of those who listened to him and looked at him. His stature and physical prowess was not made in a lab like Kahn, it was from years of pushing himself through rigorous training regiments and many battles with foes better than he.

All other Anahaus in the room stood and looked to their leader. He deserved their utmost respect, and they all would gladly fight to the death for him and give of their lives of it was expected of them to do so.

"The day we have long awaited for is growing closer my brothers," Geng said. His voice was rough but there was almost a poetic way in which he spoke. "Our enemies and those who have tried to keep us under constant scrutiny will soon know our power. I cannot explain to you how long I have waited to see the Turians be crushed by their foolish pride. To see the Asari's beauty desecrated by our power. The Salarian's believe they are better than most because they are smarter than other species. Krogans, Batarians, the Volus, they will be crushed by the new power that will rise. We could not have made it this far if it wasn't for the support I get from you my generals and you nephew." The holographic image of Geng turned and stood before Kahn. "How was the meeting with the good doctor Kahn?"

"The doctor informed me that we would have our first group of Annihilators within a week uncle," Kahn answered. "He did inform me that there was a problem with our first group of soldiers though. Only ten have been able to survive what the Salarians have done to them."

"Why is this? Surely the Salarians in all of their wisdom and knowledge could have prevented any complications," Geng inquired.

"I…he began to explain to me what was wrong with the first group we have, but I cut him off and did not let him finish his explanation," Kahn said, his voice getting lower as he finished his statement. Geng looked at him, a little perplexed. Kahn knew that he would feel the wrath of his uncle.

"I trust that you have a good reason for letting what could have been vital information slip through your fingers," Odsa said, trying to make himself look good in front of Geng. Kahn took notice of it. Only a pompous and arrogant ass would try to belittle someone the ways that Odsa normally did.

"Well nephew? Do you have a valid reason for why you failed to acquire that information from the Salarian?" Geng asked.

"I was impatient," Kahn said. "I became to eager to rush back to you with the information that I had received."

"And it has cost you nephew. You kept your eyes focused firmly on the prize at the end and not getting the mission done the way it needed to be. I am very disappointed in you," Geng said. "Do not let your youth get the best of you anymore." Kahn felt dejected, but kept his head up and his eyes firmly locked on his uncle.

"It will not happen again, I swear it," Kahn said, hoping that his uncle would find it in him to forgive him and continue to give him top assignments. Odsa and the other generals had looks of disappointment and disgust. Indeed he did let his youthfulness make him over eager but he got the main information for his uncle. He should have let that damn Salarian talk.

"So, ten Annihilators within a week," Geng said, pacing back and forth. "They will need to be tested, and tested in a way that will prove to me that the Salarians are doing their job correctly. But how to test my new soldiers?" Geng contemplated what would be the best course of action. He looked at his five generals and then to Kahn as he continued to pace back and forth. "Find me a world that is far from the influence of the council and their races. It may be best to use them on a Batarian world. Batarians are useless and a waste of space in the galaxy, but they would be a good formidable foe for our new Annihilators. We must locate and scout this world quickly, our new soldiers will be here soon and I want to make sure that they are ready for combat." Geng began to walk back towards the projector, and turned back to face his generals and Kahn. "The time of the Anahaus is coming. The galaxy will be ours to rule. No one, not even the great hero of humanity will be able to stop us. The galaxy will be ours…" His last sentence faded away, just as his image had began to. Kahn stood and watched the holographic image of his uncle disappear. Now was there time, and they would soon reveal themselves to the rest of the galaxy.